<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Dinners and Daydreams by ippoteq</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27179350">Dinners and Daydreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ippoteq/pseuds/ippoteq'>ippoteq</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vision for the Future (Xenotober2020) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Xenoblade Chronicles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Xenotober (Xenoblade Chronicles), Xenotober2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:42:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27179350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ippoteq/pseuds/ippoteq</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fiora spends her time cooking to daydream about what life has in store for her</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fiora &amp; Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vision for the Future (Xenotober2020) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Xenotober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dinners and Daydreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A little of this, a dash of that. Fiora rarely ever measured ingredients out when she was cooking, because she had made these recipes so many times that she could recall the ingredients and their quantities off the top of her head. This recipe in particular was a favourite of hers - a rich curry, full of an assortment of herbs and spices. She was prone to diversifying the main ingredients on a whim, but for the most part, she loved to fill it with whatever vegetables she could find and let them soak up all of the flavours. </p><p>As she stirred the thick sauce around in its pot, she allowed her mind to wander. Something had been encompassing all of her thoughts lately, but she’d scarcely had the time to dedicate to thinking about it. It was the future. Her future, mostly, but that in turn had her thinking about the future of the Colony and its fate now that Dunban was out of commission. Despite her misgivings about his eagerness to rush back to the battlefield, she knew how integral his skills had been in the Battle of Sword Valley. Without him, she feared for the helpless soldiers from the remaining Colonies who put their lives on the line. The Monado posed the biggest threat the Mechon had encountered in sometime… what exactly would they do when they realised there were no Homs left who could safely wield it? </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> A little cream, to help the curry’s flavour deepen. No, not too much, don’t want it to drown out the taste of all those spices… Oh! Maybe a dash of lemon! That ought to give it a subtle sharpness that will complement the curry’s sweetness. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She longed for a sense of peace and quiet. Things had definitely calmed down since her brother returned home, but in many ways it felt as though they had brought a small piece of the conflict home with them. Many valiant men and women had lost their lives fighting out there; some, like Dunban, had been lucky enough to make it out alive, but none of them were free of their own scars. At first glance, Dunban had gotten off lightly: his only wounds were self-inflicted, after all. But it was the mental scars that no-one except Fiora saw, the way he shook as he ate her cooking, even if he used his good arm. She’d once knocked over a pan as she was preparing a stew, burning her hand in the process, and Dunban had screamed even louder than she had. It had taken hours for her to calm him down enough that he would allow her to go downstairs alone to clean up the mess. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Is it too early to prepare the rice? Doesn’t look like we have any in the house. Did I use it all the other day when I made those onigiri? Maybe bread would be better, anyway? Hm... I’m sure I have some flour around here somewhere. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She let out a heavy sigh. The scent of the curry had filled the room now and was no doubt drifting up to Dunban’s room and out into the street. She gave the pot one final stir for good measure and tapped the spoon on the rim. Rooting around in one of the kitchen’s many cupboards, she emerged with a small ceramic tub, about the size of a generously wordy book. She siphoned some of the curry into the pot and placed its lid gently over the top, tying it in place with a piece of bakers’ twine. The ceramic took the heat almost immediately and the warmth of it bloomed in her hands as she carried it out the door. She smiled at the people she knew as she passed them by, everyone waving at her or calling out: “Good to see you, Fiora”, “How’s your brother?”, “What have you been making this time?”, “That Shulk’s a lucky boy.” </p><p>She walked with a spring in her step, despite the fog of worries in her mind. Dickson greeted her with a smile and a wave as she skipped down the steps.</p><p>“Careful! Shulk trips down these stairs enough, don’t want you to hurt yourself.” He said, that same old fatherly tone causing her to lighten her steps a little. Gingerly, she poked her head into the Weapon’s Lab, scanning around for Shulk. He must have heard Dickson calling to her; he was abnormally not absorbed in his work and was instead looking to the door for her arrival. She placed the fresh pot of curry onto his desk with a grin. </p><p>She couldn’t possibly anticipate the future; that much she knew. All she could do was take each day as it came, and strive to do her best in that uncertain tomorrow. Watching Shulk’s expression as he delicately unraveled the twine and lifted the lid off of his still steaming pot of curry, she had only one thought in her mind.</p><p> </p><p>‘I hope everyday can be like this, always.’</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A super delayed submission for Day 17's prompt, 'Future'. I twisted my neck muscle so I was out of action for a few days and this got put on the back burner.</p><p>Not my favourite piece but I was adamant about getting it out at some point, no matter how late! Hope y'all enjoy.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>